ST. PETERSBURG — RHP Chad Bradford's season may be over due to some slight elbow discomfort, and his career may be, too.
"I'm leaning toward probably shutting it down," Bradford said, "but I'm definitely leaving the door open to see what happens.
"It's all going to depend on how I feel, how the back, elbow and body in general feels. When you feel good physically you want to be out there, but when you're hurting, obviously it's frustrating."
Bradford, 35, has made just 20 appearances (working 101/3 innings) this season, missing nearly three months recovering from elbow surgery then another with back tightness. When he has pitched, it hasn't gone well, allowing a .431 average (22-for-51).
Bradford, making $3.5 million in the final year of his contract, said a decision on retiring won't be made for a few months: "I'm going to go home and relax, hang out with the family and kids and see what I'm thinking in January."
SHIELDS UP: Missing the playoffs and having a losing record for just the second time in eight pro seasons was already enough to make this a year RHP James Shields will be happy to forget.
As he makes his final appearance tonight, he said not getting to complete any of his 32 starts made it even worse.
"One of the most disappointing things for me is I didn't get to throw any CGs (complete games) this year," he said. "I definitely had a bunch of chances to throw CGs this year; I got pulled a little early. …
"I don't know if it was the confidence, or what it was this year, that Joe (Maddon) had in me, but it kind of seemed I was getting taken out of every single game this year and I wasn't able to finish innings."
That sounded like criticism of Maddon's decisions, but Shields quickly said it wasn't and that if anything, he blamed himself for not finishing what he started. "It's nothing against him or anything like that," he said. "I don't think I got the job done the way I wanted to this year."
Shields, who had three complete games last season and one in 2006 and 2007, made it clear what he's aiming for in 2010 and said he'll address it with changes to his offseason prep: "One of my main goals is to be able to go a little deeper in games. Even though I threw 200 innings (2112/3) this year, I think there's a little more in the tank as far as being able to capitalize late in the game and being able to finish innings."
LEARNING EXPERIENCE:Jeff Niemann appears to be running out of gas having thrown 1752/3 innings, 262/3 more than his previous high. But the Rays want him to make his final start Saturday for the experience of learning how to pitch "somewhat tired mentally," and the different approach that requires.
"I'd like him to go out there and pitch and understand that at this time of the year if you look up at the scoreboard and it doesn't say 93 (mph), don't try to have the next pitch be 93; just pitch," Maddon said. "Just pitch and get people out. I think that actually would be a good lesson for him."
Maddon said he'd change plans if Niemann — who lasted 31/3 innings Monday and has 141/3 in his past three starts — said he wasn't up to it. Niemann said, however, he was "good to go."
UPTON UP TOP: With Jason Bartlett off, B.J. Upton went back to the leadoff spot he was dropped from, though he hit better there, .242, than elsewhere, .220. Upton said he's open to hitting anywhere Maddon wants next season. "He could be anything from one to five, there's no doubt in my mind," Maddon said.
MISCELLANY: SS Reid Brignac is likely to get a few more starts. … Wade Davis' start was the 56th by a rookie this season, the third in which he allowed one or no earned runs. … Ben Zobrist is the first to start at eight positions in a season since Minnesota's Denny Hocking in 2001.
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